Persona II: The Bet
by Hopeater
Summary: Izanami and Yaldaboath have made a bet, but the Investigation Team, Phantom Thieves, and Minato with his two friends are ready to take them on! Or... are they?
1. Chapter 1

Notes before I start:

-This is a follow-up of Persona I: Welcome back. Reading it is recommended, but I'll make a short synopsis.

-Rated M for shameless swearing, actual violence, mentions of death, probably blood, mentions of sexual theme, an important character has depression, mentions of self-harm and stupid shit college student who fight giant monster do.

-Mainly humor/angst, but contains action, drama, romance and some horror. I've been told there's some suspense. As for the humor, it's dark and/or shitty by moments.

-Name I use for the protagonist: Minato Arisato (P3), Yu Narukami (P4), Akira Kurusu (P5), and Kotone Shiomi (P3femp). Also changed the name of Kotone's Persona.

-Minato is alive because _why Atlus_.

-They are in their second year of college, and Minato, Yu and Akira are roommates.

* * *

 _Synopsis: Minato, Yu and Akira have been roommates for a year now, and almost consider each others brothers. However, they didn't know about each others past, and spent an entire year in college blissfully unaware of it doing stupid shit, such as getting in fights, getting drunk and trying to pierce their own nipples. However, following a dream where they found themselves in the Velvet Room, they learn that Yaldaboath and Izanami, the gods who Akira and Yu had defeated, have made a bet concerning humanity. As both the Phantom Thieves and the Investigation Team go back in action, Minato succeeds in getting Aigis and Kotone to help him..._

* * *

"Alright, so I went to the Untouchable and asked Iwai if he could make me a discount on all of these guns-"

"Akira, what are you talking about?" Yu turned toward Akira, who just entered the apartment, with a quizzical look on his face. "We don't need guns to fight Shadows. Minato and I already have weapons."

"For the negotiations, duh."

"... Negotiations?"

"Yeah!" The curly-haired student replied, a smile on his face. "You know, when you hold a shadow at gun point and you either ask for money, an item or for them to join your Persona arsenal?"

"... Why would I want a Shadow in my Persona inventory?"

"Because that's what they are? Basically Personas gone rogue?"

"... What the fuck happened to you, Akira?"

"Well, my mother didn't hug me as a child, I got branded a criminal by a society, had the steal the hearts of some jackasses who were constantly menacing my friends, had my crush from then die, had my best friend almost die, had to fight a jackass god, met Mara-"

"Akira, no one cares about your sob story." Minato declared as he entered the apartment, back from his appointment with his therapist.

"Fuck you, Minato, out of the three of us, you have the most tragic backstory."

"I didn't know "met Mara" was a requirement for a tragic backstory." Yu deadpanned.

"Well, it was more "weird" than "tragic", but-"

"Alright you two," Minato started, cutting Akira of from probably spouting some kind of dick joke "Kotone will be there any moment now, and she was basically one of my best friend back in Iwatodai, and I want you two to be on your best behavior. So, no mentions of the headphones incident -in fact, no mentions of any of the incidents we were part of-, no probing on what happened back then, no getting drunk -unless she starts it, then you can go all out- no stressful swear rants," he turned at Yu at that, before snapping his neck at his other roommate. "and _no asking her to step on your face, Akira."_

"Oh great, you ask a beautiful woman to step on your face once, and suddenly you're everything that's wrong with society."

"No, the problem is that out of the three of us, you're the one who does the most stupid shit." Minato explained.

"Yeah!" Yu affirmed. "You know, like _trying to pierce your own nipples while black-out drunk!_ "

"Oh for the love of- I already apologized for that _dozens of time_ already, and out of all the stupid shit I did in my life, it's probably the only one I recognized right away when I woke up as being _incredibly stupid!_ Can you please leave me alone with that?!"

"No. I still have nightmares about it."

"See? That's exactly the kind of things I'm talking about!" Whined Minato. "You know what? Just act like when the three of us first met. Yu, you were kind of cold and respected boundaries, Akira, you were at least acting like you were sane, and we weren't really interacting with each other so let's go with that. Just act a little more familiar then back then."

"Alright." The two answered at the same time, just three seconds before someone knocked at the door.

"Shit, it's her! Get out of the living room, you two! Shoo, shoo!"

Once the two got somewhere else, Akira in his room and Yu in the kitchen, Minato took a few deep breath, and opened the door...

* * *

Just outside of the apartment, a young woman dressed in a red dress with white pants and a pink jacket, Kotone Shiomi, was waiting. Her auburn hair were now longer and reached her neck in their high ponytail. Her bangs were divided on the side instead of covering her forehead, and she had grown a few centimeters taller. Her black, red and pink suitcase was large and practically about to burst. When the door opened, a smaller man with blue hair and wearing a large hoodie and pajamas pants answered, who she instantly recognized as...

"Hey, Minato!" The brunette exclaimed, a joyous smile on her face as she threw her arms around the bluenette.

"Kotone." Minato answered as he put his arm around her, a small smile on his face.

"How you've been? Has shit started going down yet? Am I the only one who accepted to come back? Answer me!"

"Wow, wow. Calm down a little and go sit on the couch. I'm still processing my visit at the Velvet Room from a week ago."

"You went to the Velvet Room?!" She asked, throwing herself on the couch

"Yeah. It's a bistro now."

"Nice, I'm going to be able to get drunk and complain about my problems to Igor." She joked. "How's Theo?"

"Last time I saw him, I think he was getting attacked by Mara."

"... What the fuck."

"Beside that, he seemed to be doing well." He let himself fall on the couch at that, sighing. "God, I'm tired."

"Yeah, you kinda look like shit. When's the last time you washed yourself?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Dammit Minato, you need to take care of yourself!" Kotone exclaimed as she pushed him off the couch. "I'll talk to you after you take a shower."

"WHAT THE FUCK?! _THIS IS MY HOUSE!_ "

"Shut up and take a shower."

"I won't forget this, Kotone!" He declared as he walked/stomped to the bathroom. "I WILL NOT FORGET THIS!" And then slammed the door.

Ten seconds later, the sound a shower started. Kotone chuckled at her victory.

"Wow," she turned toward the source of the voice. It was from an young man with frizzy black hair and brown eyes, who wore red-framed thick glasses, designer clothes and was rather androgynous looking. "it's the first time I see someone convince Minato to take a shower without him making too much of a scene."

"It happens regularly?" She asked, suddenly worried for the bluenette's state.

"More like he's not really good at taking care of himself, but he makes effort." Answered the frizzy-haired one. "I'm Akira Kurusu, by the way."

"Oh yeah, nice to meet you, Kurusu-San. I'm Kotone Shiomi." She extended a hand to him, which he shook. "You're the sex maniac, right?"

"Nice to know it's how he sees me." Deadpanned Akira, before turning toward the brunette. "Not that he's exactly wrong, but..."

"It's alright! I dated a lot of guys back in high school, so I'm not really well-placed to judge."

"... I don't know if "sleeps with a lot of people on campus with boyfriend's consent" and "dated a lot of guys in high school" are equivalent, but alright."

"Uh, Akira?" Another man entered the room, and the first thing that went to Kotone's head was that he was one of the most intimidating person she ever met. Easily taller than Takaya "Sonuvabitch" Sakaki, absolutely jacked, a shadow covered his eyes and he was dressed like a biker, even if the "intimidating" factor was somehow mitigated when she realized his silver hair were styled like a bowl cut with a ponytail, even if he seemed to pull that off. "I'm pretty sure Minato told us _not_ to talk about our college life."

"He said not to talk about the incidents, Yu. Not about college life." The frizzy-haired one, Akira, answered.

"Your college life _is_ a series of various incidents." The silverhaired one (Yu?) answered.

"Fair point."

"Oh!" The tall man seemed to notice her, and quickly walked over to her, extending a hand. "You must be Shiomi-San. I'm Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you."

She shook his hand, happy to see Minato seemed to have found good friend. "Nice to meet you too, Narukami-San."

"So," Akira started, bringing his hands together "has Minato explained the situation to you?"

"Vaguely."

"Oh." Yu seemed worried for a moment. "That's not good. Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I've made some bentos."

"Nice!" She followed the two others to the kitchen, and looked around, surprised about the niceness of the apartment. "Holy shit, Minato found himself one good apartment."

"Yeah, no. It was an offer in the newspaper like what, someone else was paying the rent, so a lot of people jumped at the offer and Minato and I were the one chosen due to the prestigious high school we went to. Turns out Yu's parent are the one paying so we can stay in the apartment without having to pay the rent for that." Akira explained, before his face darkened.

"What it didn't say was that they wouldn't pay the rest, like electricity and hot water. Turns out, his parents are assholes who wanted him to find a part-time job at their company -while he told them he would prefer focusing on his studies- forced him away from the dorms and his best friend in an apartment he didn't want, and expected his roommates to be stuck up snobs focused on their studies. Minato and I turning out to be, well, _us_ , was more of a stroke of luck than anything."

"Yeah, that was kind of a dick move on their part." Agreed Yu, bringing three bentos at the table.

"So," started Kotone, "what's going on?"

"Apparently, two gods -the ones that Akira and I have faced- have come back and made a bet, which will enter in action tomorrow. You and someone else that Minato didn't mention are the only one he knew would accept to help. Akira and I succeeded in forming our teams back, and we're basically waiting for Igor to give us the word for how it's going to go down. We think we're going to meet him again tonight." Yu explained.

"Yeah, and before you ask," continued Akira, "the gods that made the bet are Izanami, who seems cool beside having no idea on how to judge humanity and the fact that she broke her promise to Yu, and Yaldabitch-"

"Akira."

"What? Am I not allowed to mock my sworn enemy?" At the flat look Yu sent him (and probably his attitude), he crossed his arms.

"She doesn't know his real name. Be serious about this."

"Ugh, fine." The frizzed-haired student rolled his eyes before turning to the brunette. "The other god name is Yaldaboath. He's the manifestation of society's unknown desire for order -which is bullshit- and he tried to impose it on the world by creating some kind of game between me and... someone else." Akira stopped at that, his mind seemingly wandering.

"Can you tell us more?" Asked Kotone, Yu nodding in agreement.

"Well, the thing is that he then proceeded to _rig the fucking game_ in his favor, and I had to show up with a form of Satan to defeat him. Turns out, he survived being _shot in the face_ and proceeded to do a bet with Izanami. He also hijacked the Velvet Room and split my Velvet Room attendant- who also happens to be an adorable little girl -into two bloodthirsty gremlins. And I have absolutely no other words to describe what that _cunt_ did back then without telling you my life story!" Akira seethed.

"... Wow. You didn't tell me that he was _that_ much of an ass." Said Yu, bewildered.

"What you described there, Kurusu-San, is a dick!" Cheerfully exclaimed Kotone.

"What's a dick now?" The three jumped at the voice, relieved to see it was only Minato with damp hair and wearing underwear and a t-shirt.

"The god I faced." Akira offered for explanation.

"Oh, you told her what happened, that's good. Uh, Yu? A little more about Izanami wouldn't be too bad."

"I already told you: Izanami was curious about humanity, so she chose three persons to represent emptiness, despair and hope, and I was the one representing hope."

"The only thing is that she is a _horrible_ judge of character, and deduced that the _jackass_ who represented emptiness was the winner. My team and I were able to convince her not to destroy the world, and she gracefully conceded after a battle were we all almost _died_. I'm on good terms with one of her avatars, but she's just as traumatized about it than all of my team, if not _more_."

"I'm planning on finding a way to meet her, so yeah. We should get answers as of the nature of this bet pretty soon." Yu explained, visibly not happy to remember these events.

"Shit." Simply said Minato. "You guys have history with these gods."

"Yeah," agreed Kotone, "dealing with Nyx was a nightmare, but at least it wasn't personal between us."

"... who's Nyx?"

"You don't want to know."

* * *

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Lady Kotone."

"IGOR!" Kotone exclaimed as she threw herself at the bar. "How you've been? Why wasn't I summoned in the Velvet Room with the others? What's the bet about? ANSWER ME!"

"Kotone, calm down." Said Minato as he entered the Velvet Room, followed shortly after by Yu and Akira. "So, how you've all been?"

"Fine." answered Theodore, having seemingly recovered from being attacked by Mara. "What about you, Master Minato?"

"For once in my life, I'm not too sleepy."

"Uh, Minato?" The bluenette turned toward Yu, humming in acknowledgment. "Can you help us get Kotone off the counter?"

"Shit, she's really excited."

"Mistress Kotone, calm down!" Exclaimed Theodore, getting up from his seat... before having the brunette throw herself at him.

"THEO!"

"Yes, it's nice to see you too again." He declared before awkwardly patting her head.

"So, what _is_ the bet about?" Asked Akira has he made his way to Lavenza's table, taking a seat.

"Well... how do I put it without you flying into a rage?..."

"Lavenza, anything related to Yaldabaoth _will_ make me fly into a rage." Reminded Akira.

"In fact, anything related to that jacka _-_ "

"Elizabeth! Language."

"Sorry big sis. Anyway, anything related to the Demiurge would make anyone who is a permanent resident in this room fly into a rage after the stunt he pulled with the Velvet Room settlement in Tokyo." Elizabeth assured.

"That is true." Agreed Margaret.

"Theodore doesn't get mad when he's mentioned." Argued Lavenza.

"He keeps his calm on the surface. Inside, not so much." Igor explained.

"Actually I-"

"No you're lying." Yu cut him.

"How would you know?" Questioned the only Velvet brother.

"Akira told us about what happened to Lavenza."

"Yep. Yaldabitch hijacked the Velvet Room-"

"More like he somehow locked us and the master out of it."

"- thank you, Elizabeth- and split her in two, and the way he described them, her halves weren't exactly nice." Kotone added, ignoring Minato's "He _what_."

"Oh! If you know all that, then yes, I will not hide the fact that I have issues with Yaldaboath."

"... What level of issues?" Questioned Elizabeth, skeptical about her pushover brother having any kind of mean bone in his body.

"The level of issues that, the rare times when I get to sleep, most of my dreams involve him suffering at my hands." Her brother explained without missing a beat, keeping his cheerful tone... before adding this, his face and tone becoming utterly blank, but not breaking eye contact with his sister. "In the last one, I was stapling his fingers to his face."

A heavy silence followed this sentence, before...

" _The fuck._ So, what's the bet about?" Akira pressed, eager to change the subject.

"Oh, Izanami and Yaldaboath made a bet on humanity's nature and which side would win."

" _AGAIN?!_ " The Phantom Thieves and Investigation Team leaders roared at the same time, both of them visibly annoyed (understatement of the millennium) at learning the nature of this divine bet.

"... you need to be more precise." Said Minato.

"I SHOT THAT DICKHEAD IN THE FACE TO PROVE A POINT-"

"Well, it just so happens to Yaldaboath and Izanami were unable to agree on something-"

"MY FUCKING COUSIN ALMOST _DIED_ BECAUSE OF HER FIRST E _X_ P _E_ R _I_ M _E_ N _T_ -"

"-and made a bet on which one would be right, that is all. Nothing personal toward them, I suppose." Explained Igor, not paying any mind to the scene the two Wildcards were doing.

"A CONSPIRACY! _THIS IS **ALL** JUST ANOTHER **FUCKING CONSPIRACY** -_"

"You're sure? Because these two seem to be taking it pretty personally." Remarked Kotone.

" _AND THEN THAT **DICK** ADACHI JUST **HAD** TO RUIN **HOURS** I SPENT TRYING TO HELP HIM-_"

"Well, to be fair, these two seem to have histories with their cosmic jackass, unlike us with Nyx." Minato explained.

" _ **FUTABASMOTHERWAS**_ **KILLED _ANDGOROACTUALLY_ DIED _ANDTHATFUCKTARDTRIEDTO_ ERASEUSFROMREALITY _BUTNOOOITWASNTENOUGHWASIT_** -"

"Ryoji." Reminded Kotone.

"I meant _negative_ history with them. Ryoji was one of your social links and I dated the bloke."

" _ **AND WE LITERALLY HAD A FUCKING CONTRACT ABOUT HOW THAT LYING, HYPOCRITICAL**_ **BITCH** _ **WOULDN'T GO BACK ON HER WORD TO LEAVE US ALONE IF I ALWAYS SEARCHED FOR THE TRUTH NO MATTER HOW SHITTY IT IS WHICH I**_ **DID** -"

"Indeed, it's somewhat personal for these two." Confirmed Margaret.

"Akira isn't even coherent anymore. I also have no idea what Yu is talking about." Remarked Minato about the two ball of rage that were essentially his roommates.

"Let me take care of Master Yu." The eldest sibling declared as she walked over the raging mess that was Yu, putting a hand on his shoulder. When the silverhead snapped his head at her, she simply handed him a pillow and told him to scream in it. Which he will do until I tell you he's not doing it anymore.

"What about Kurusu-San?" Asked Kotone, gesturing to the garbling, raging, screaming mess that the Trickster had become.

"You let him mellow down." Igor declared, even if his eternal smile faltered a second at seeing one of the Wild Card who took the term to new lengths being reduced to rage so easily.

"... Alright, but _which_ part of humanity's nature did they bet about?" Minato asked

"How far they would go for others. Just how much kindness does each human have. Just how virtuous they can go." Margaret explained.

"Ah. Well, that's a weird bet." Kotone simply said. Understandable, seeing as she had met psychopaths, but her group had literally fought Death to try and give humanity another chance. She was able to see the shades of morality. Apparently, Gods couldn't.

"Indeed. Yaldaboath firmly believes that every human is only centered on themselves-"

" _ **WHICH IS BULLSHIT**_ -" Akira succeeded in screaming in the middle of his incoherent rant.

"-and Izanami was willing to say that they weren't all like that."

"Wait what." Yu promptly said, having finished screaming in his pillow.

"Izanami is the one who asked us for help." Elizabeth simply stated.

"And we accepted. Because we hate Yaldaboath." Theodore explained, a smile on his face.

"That's... reassuring to heard." Admitted Yu. "I mean, she still broke her promise, but it was to defend us. So I guess it's alright."

"Yes. Soon, you will be able to re-awaken to your Personas, so..." Igor started as the attendants started leading them to the door. "Good luck."

* * *

Akira woke up, clutching his head. He looked around, trying to see if things had changed.

Things hadn't changed. Everything seemed regular.

That is, until he opened his phone, and a glowing red app had installed itself on his phone.

Joker smiled.

"It was about time."


	2. Chapter 2

Notes before I start:

-First fight scene I write.

* * *

"GUYS!"

"Akira, it's 7 in the morning, and you haven't even drank your coffee yet. _Stop screaming._ " Minato hissed.

"Sorry, but _guys._ The Navi App is back!"

"... the what?" Asked Yu, who was visibly tired.

"The Navigation App is back! Which mean I'll be able to go back to the Metaverse!"

"... You know you can just jump into a TV, right?"

"God, Yu, I hate you and your perfect, simple life." Simply stated Akira as he went to make himself a coffee.

"Hey guys." Greeted Kotone as she entered the room.

"Hey Kotone." Answered Minato.

"Hi, Shiomi-San. How are you?" Asked Yu, putting on his best smile as Akira finished making himself a cup of coffee.

"Not too bad. I woke up an hour ago, to be honest, but didn't want to get up. So I just played on my phone a little bit." She emphasized her point by showing her phone.

"... Do you have any problem sleeping?" Asked Yu, suddenly worried for the fourth Wild Card.

"Yeah. Nightmares about what happened back in high school, and all." Kotone explained. "Can I have some cereals?"

"Sure!" Akira said as he handed her the cereal box just as the coffee machine started beeping. He took his cup, and proceeded to start sipping it, not in any real hurry, seeing as his classes started two hours later. "So, Yu. How is the TV World like?"

"Well, it kinds of looks like a studio blanketed by fog, or at least _was_ blanketed by fog. There's TVs a little everywhere, and entrances to dungeons, which takes different shapes, like a castle or a bathhouse. That's where the shadows of people thrown in the Midnight Chanel appear. All in all, not very impressive at first glance, and from what I heard, the Shadows there aren't really aggressive anymore. I think. Teddie also told me it goes from Inaba to Tokyo."

"Uh, doesn't really sound like Mementos. Before you ask, it's a maze that's basically a twisted labyrinth which looks like a subway. The shadows of bad people that aren't twisted enough to have their own Palace live there, plus some rogue shadow I can negotiate with. The deeper you go in, the more it looks creepy, and the depth is just a giant prison. Also, destroying Mementos is the only way I know to get rid of Yaldaboath, so yeah. It's only around Tokyo, though."

"Neither of those sounds like Tartarus." Kotone offhandedly said as she munched on her cereal.

"... Tartarus?" Asked Yu.

"Death tower that rise at Midnight." simply said Minato.

"Thank you, Minato, for being as unhelpful as possible."

"Well, to be fair Akira, Yaldabaoth and Izanami are our problem, not theirs." Yu answered with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Now, now. I choose to help you because Minato wanted help helping you. We aren't going anywhere." Kotone reminded.

The only response of Yu and Akira was to aww at Minato, Akira feeling the need to add a "you do care about us" in a fake touched tone. Minato's answer was to tell them to shut up, and the breakfast went on with them changing the subject, like asking Kotone how's life at Iwatodai and talking about college, Akira promising them to show them Mementos after classes.

* * *

"Alright, so..." The world around them started distorting, colors mixing in black and red before stabilizing, and the world seemed as normal as when Akira used the App. Besides...

"Where is everyone?" Asked Minato, looking around.

"Why is the lighting crappy?" Asked Kotone, looking up.

"Why does it feel like we're walking on air?" Asked Yu, stepping in place as he looked at Akira. "Akira, answer us."

"One: It's Joker here."

"Oh shit you're right it feels weird here." Minato stated.

"Two: It's what happen when you enter Mementos or a Palace: Everything change to fit the fact that this is universe is powered by distorted desires."

"You're sure? It just looks like a subway to me."

"Three: Kotone, I said earlier this place was located in Tokyo's subway."

"Don't sass us, young man."

"WE HAVE THE SAME AGE, YU, _YOU'RE JUST AN OLD MAN_!"

"Joker, calm down. We need to keep a low profile, or the shadows are going to catch us." A fifth, unknown voice to the three others chided.

"Oh, didn't see you here, Mona." Joker stated as he looked down.

"... what the fuck" muttered Minato as his gaze landed on the frowning, cat-like creature at Akira's feet.

"Oh my god it's so cuuute!" Squeeled Kotone as she got down to it's eye level, trying to scratch it behind it's ears.

"Hey! Stop that! I'm not a cat!" Complained the small creature.

"Indeed, my dear Kotone: Morgana is the manifestation of humanity's hope, kept alive by the sheer power of me and my friend's denial over his disappearance. Apparently, it also worked with Mementos in the long run, as much as I'm concerned."

"Your bullshit is exactly why Lady Ann wanted to be kept out of this." Chided Morgana at Akira, as Yu stared at him wide-eyed.

"Hold on, _that's_ Morgana?!" The silverhead exclaimed, pointing at the small creature.

"... Yes."

The next sounds that were out of Yu's mouth could said to be between a baby seal's honking and a dying whale's wailing as he sank to the ground, intent on trying to hold Morgana. After some resistance, Morgana finally leaped in Yu's arms, purring as the silverhead scratched him behind his ears. Akira simply looked at the scene, unimpressed.

"So much for you not being a cat, you goddamn _cat_."

"... Are we going to head down, or?..." Kotone asked.

"Oh yeah, follow me!"

Once they were at Mementos entrance, the three looked around, and...

"Akira why do you look like a discount batman."

"It's my Phantom Thief outfit, and the name is Joker, Minato."

"No. You're discount batman now." The bluenette reaffirmed, both Yu and Kotone trying (and failling) to stifle their laughing.

"Yeah, like you're any better, you're dressed with a torn blanket and your face is covered in bandages, you fucking edge lord." Joker retorted, putting his hands on his hips.

"No I'm not- WHAT THE _FUCK_ _?!_ " He exclaimed as he looked down on himself.

Indeed, his shoulders were wrapped in a torn, hooded black cape that reached his mid-tight, which was held together at the shoulders by a bunch of belts. It was impossible to see what kind of shirt he was wearing under, but he seemed to be wearing black, tight pants and boots with buckles, the sheath of his sword hanging out of the hem of the torn fabric. The cape was torn enough for his arms to show, and he seemed to be wearing long, black leather gloves. His mask wasn't exactly a mask, but white bandages messily wrapped around his eyes, letting the one not already blinded by his bangs show. Said bangs weren't wrapped by the bandage. Chains trailed after him.

"Edge lord." Simply repeated Akira as Minato started complaining about looking like the Reaper's little brother. While Kotone started joking about Minato's current outfit, Yu looked down on himself, surprised to notice his outfit, too, had changed.

He now wore an long, open, black trench coat with a large collar on his shoulders, the arms out of the sleeves (it was probably holding on because of the golden chain that linked one side of his coat to the other) and his shirt was a white turtleneck. His pants were black, too, and his boots were white and red with gold decoration. He also wore a red belt with a gold buckle. He patted his face, and he noticed his mask had a jagged edge and was made out of metal, and that his hair were in a high ponytail instead of the usual low one he wore, tied with the aid of a white ribbon that was connected to the sides of his mask. He afterward looked down on his gloved hands, noticing his gloves were a golden color. His katana's sheath was clipped to his belt.

"Calm down, Minato. You're not the only one who's clothes changed." The silverhead said.

"Maybe, but you look like some kind of prince delinquent, Akira looks super extra but he pulls it off, and Kotone is rocking the magic-princess-bard look. _I_ look like the Reaper had a lovechild with an emo!" The bluenette retorted, putting his hands on his hips.

"Wait, I do?" She said, suddenly noticing how her clothes changed from her knee-length red dress to a shorter, yellow one that reached her mid-tights. Said dress was coupled with a open, white, hooded collar vest that reached her mid-waist and a red tie held together by a pin in the shape of a treble clef. She also had high, white heeled boots and matching long gloves. She carried her naginata over her shoulders, the blade wrapped in a red tissue.

Unlike Minato, she took the change of clothes extremely well. "Check me out! Quick!" She grasped Minato's shoulders. "What does my mask look like?"

"... A gold carnival mask with red decorations that look like stylized music partitions." Simply said Minato.

"I LOVE IT!"

Joker simply giggled at the others reactions to their outfit. "So, I'll take it's fine for the three of you?"

"Yes! I look awesome!"

"It's fine, but I feel it's going to be complicated moving around with that coat."

"No. I don't like it."

"Glad to see you like them!" Joker declared, ignoring Minato's protest. "However, we need one, last thing: your code names!"

"Why do we need cod-"

"I'm Muse now!" Declared Kotone, cutting Yu's sentence.

"Ugh... Grim, I guess?" Groaned Minato, kicking the ground.

"Alright, so you're Muse, and you're Grim." Said Morgana, who was sitting on Yu's shoulders, as he pointed to the two. The humanoid cat then turned to the silverhead. "And you? What's your code name?"

"Uh, actually? I was wondering why we needed code names?"

"We don't know what will happen if we say our real name in the Metaverse, since we use it to steal hearts." Simply explained Morgana.

"Oh." Yu simply answered, before thinking for a moment. "How does Kingpin sounds?"

"It's perfect! I'm Mona, by the way. And he" Morgana pointed to Akira "is Joker."

The leader of the Phantom Thieves grinned at the other Wild Cards, who all inched away from the suddenly predatory look he was giving them. "And this" he gestured to the entrance of the tunnels "is Mementos. Welcome to Jerks-Land, _bitches._ "

* * *

"Wow. 'Jerks-Land' sure is disappointing."

"SHUT UP, GRIM!" Joker yelled, turning his attention away from the wheel for a moment.

"What? He's right!" Muse complained, throwing her arms in the air.

"Indeed, all we've met until now are a bunch of Slimes." Kingpin continued. "We didn't even have to summon our Personas."

"What are we even searching for?" Grim continued. "You just told us you wanted to show us how the Phantom Thieves operated."

"And I'm going to show you. MONA!"

"Yes?" The three other Wild Cards jumped at the voice that apparently . They had forgotten for a moment that the goddamn _cat_ was also their mean of transportation. To be honest, they all complained for a good while that the Phantom Thieves had a mean of transportation while they were stuck walking. Things hadn't gotten better when they found out that the only monsters there were apparently Slimes. Never mind that they only have been there for 5 minutes right now.

"Do you sense our target?" Joker asked.

"Uh uh, turn to the left."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!" Indeed, there was now a swirling red portal in front of them, the rails twisting into it.

"Alright, novices. Y'all ready?"

"Yes!" Muse exclaimed.

"I think?" Kingpin answered.

"We're not novices." Grim grumbled.

"HERE WE GOOOOO!" Joker yelled as he slammed into the gas pedal, ignoring Kingpin's pleads to slow down a little. The bus landed in a smaller space, were a tall figure was standing at the other end.

"Mona, stay behind. Alright, team." Started Joker, pointing at the figure at the other end. "That's our target. I told the other Phantom Thieves I'd take care of this one so they have more time to prepare."

"What's their name?" Asked Muse.

"Yokoyama Yukio. Female. She's a hair and makeup stylist. Someone went on the site to complain about her attitude, but after some digging from Yuuki's, it turns out she's widely disliked in the domain due to her being ruthless with competition, doing what she can for their reputation to be ruined by spreading rumors and just being plain rude with them in general. Her neighbor hear a lot of yelling when she's in her apartment. She hasn't actually committed any crimes yet, but it's highly probable she will if we don't steal her heart now." Joker explained.

"Alright, let's do this." Kingpin declared as he jumped out of the bus, followed shortly after by Grim and Muse. Joker joined them shortly after, and led the way to Yokoyama.

" _Why are you all here!?_ " Yokoyama's shadow bellowed accusingly, suddenly holding her arms up to her chest, her black hair falling across her shadowed face. " _I never did anything wrong! I'm just making sure no one gets in my way while I do my things! What's wrong with that?!_ "

"By 'no one gets in my way', you really mean 'destroying any kind of career they would have', Yokoyama." Kingpin explained. "We can't let you do that."

" _Yeah, right!_ " Sneered the shadow. " _If you think you're better than me, why don't you prove it?_ " She was then covered in darkness for a split second, before emerging as a tattooed woman with a snake curling around her.

"All right, novices-"

"WE'RE NOT FUCKING NOVICES" Grim screamed, cutting their current's leader mid-sentence

"-in position!" Joker ordered. As Kingpin went to his right, Grim and Muse both went to Joker's left, Grim closer to him than Muse, the four Wild Cards unsheathing their weapons. Yokoyama's shadow started by casting a spell on Joker, lowering his defense. The leader simply cursed under his breath, before nodding at Muse. She only patted her tight a moment, before...

"Uh, leader?"

"Yes, Muse?"

"How do I summon my Persona?"

Joker chuckled. "Take your mask off."

"Wait that's it- what the fu- it's not comING OFF-"

"You'll be alright?" Asked Kingpin.

"Yeah, it's just stuck to my face-"

"What do you mean, it's stuck?" Grim asked, exasperated as he threw his arms in the air.

"I mean it's STUCK-"

" _You people aren't even bothered enough to learn how to summon your best way to fight._ " Snarked Yokoyama's shadow, crossing her tattooed arms.

"SHUT UP, YOKOYAMA!" Yelled Joker as Muse continued to tug on her mask, before turning to his struggling. "Tug it _harder._ Like you want to rip it off."

"Alright, I'll try- **_AAAAAAAAH!_** " The mask finally went off with a fountain of blood pouring from Muse's face as she screamed in pain, the mask falling the the ground as she clutched her face, trying to assert what damage had been down. Her whimpers soon turned into manic giggles, as the blood on her face burned up into blue flames with her mask, joining up in the air until a feminine silhouette stepped out of the flames, her eyes glimmering the same blue shade and illuminating her pale face. Long, platinum and wild hair. A white scarf. A mechanical golden body, draped in a long red cloth. A huge, heart-shaped harp rested on her back. Muse raised her head to the creature, who made some kind of happy noise at seeing her.

"Hey, Euterpe." Greeted Muse, patting the creature's leg. She was wearing a strange, serene expression on her face. "Sadly, I can talk right now, and I need you to cast a good spell. How does a fire one sound?" The mechanical creature nodded, before getting her harp out and playing a soft tune. Immediately, the shadow was momentarily covered in orange and red flames. Yokoyama flinched, and the four could tell damage had been done, before Euterpe returned to the state of Muse's mask.

"... What the _FUCK-_ " Screamed Grim once he recovered from seeing his friend essentially rip her face off.

"Aki-Joker," Kingpin started, recovering from the shock of seeing so much blood, "what was _that_."

"She summoned her Persona." Simply stated their current leader. At the bewildered face of his roommates, Akira suddenly became aware of being stared into as if he just had committed some kind of atrocity. "What?"

"She essentially ripped her face off, dude!" Screamed Grim. "That's even more brutal than Evokers!"

"... What's an Evoker?" Asked Kingpin, suddenly worried about another, brutal way to summon a Persona, deciding to ignore the exasperated shadow, who was currently tapping her foot on her ground and was staring at them, unimpressed.

"Essentially, a gun-like device that you use to shoot yourself in the head." Blankly answered Muse, who was taking longer to recover from the shock of ripping her face off, her eerie calm gone.

"... How is that less brutal than _ripping your face off?!_ " Wheezed out Kingpin, on the verge of snapping (and thus, swearing.)

" _Ahem._ " The four turned toward Yokoyama's shadow, who was staring at them, exasperated. " _I thought we were fighting?_ "

"Of course, excuse us." Stated Kingpin as he put his hands to his mask, intend on ripping it off. He bit the inside of his lips when he succeeded in drawing a little blood from his, reaching for the white ribbon tying his hair up to make taking it off easier, letting the silver strands fall on his back. He actually tasted blood when he finally ripped the metal mask off, temporarily seeing blood on the ground before his vision was engulfed in blue. When he could see again, he raised his head, and saw a large figure was standing behind him, his yellow eyes glowing. Upon recognizing the metal mask and black, grey and red coat, Kingpin let a psychotic grin show on his face.

"Hey, Izanagi." The Persona did not acknowledge him, but he didn't need to. I am thou, thou art I, after all. Kingpin then pointed at Yokoyama's shadow, who took a step backward at the massive creature than easily dwarfed everything in the room, including the other Persona from earlier. " _Cleave her._ " he ordered. The Persona immediately jumped at the Shadow, naginata raised above his head before he stabbed the Shadow in her abdomen, black blood splattering everywhere behind her. The Persona quickly faded after that.

The shadow growled, and eyed Joker menacingly, before muttering " _Bufudyne_ ". Immediately, tree-like structures made out of ice started curling around the four Wildcards, before fracturing. Both Kingpin and Muse were harmed by the shards of ice slashing them deeply, but Grim was lucky enough to dodge. As for Joker, with his defense lowered and weakness to Ice, was knocked down, severely armed. Yokoyama face then twisted into a manic grin, raising the hand that wasn't caressing her snake and pronouncing " _Mudoon_ ". Joker flinched at seeing the hay doll in front of him being punctured, being releasing his breath when he saw he was left unharmed.

It was now Grim's turn. He eyed Joker, who was still on the ground, and Kingpin and Muse, who were gravely harmed by Yokoyama's Ice spell. He tugged on the bandages on his face, intent on taking them off. Once he succeeded in ripping them off, letting an agonized screech out in the process, the now bloodied bandages burned up, and manifested as a smaller creature than Izanagi and Euterpe.

He looked somewhat like Euterpe, the robotic body being extremely similar to hers and had the same scarf but in a shade of red, but his hair were a lot shorter and pure white, reminiscent of his contract's haircut, and the metal composing his face was a dark color. He also didn't wear any clothes, his blue torso letting a small furnace show. Instead of an harp, it was a lyre he carried on his back.

"Orpheus." The now grinning Grim called, staring at the Shadow. Without breaking eye contact with her as the burning red eyes of his Persona landed on him, Grim pointed to his three teammates. "Cadenza." Orpheus simply nodded, and got his lyre off his back to play an energetic tune. Immediately, Kingpin's and Muse's conditions visibly improved, just as Joker was able to get back on his feet.

"Alright," Joker started as he put up a hand to his mask. " _Iiiiit's SHOW TIME!_ " He then took off the mask effortlessly, letting blood and flames spray everywhere before a winged figure appeared behind him. The figure wore a top hat, a red vest and tall heeled boots, the blade serving as heels being actually much longer than the feet itself. The horned mask had a face etched on it burned into a predatory grin.

"Arsene!" The horned figure bowed mockingly to the shadow. "Eigaon!" The Persona kneeled behind his user, putting his hands to the ground. Immediately, streams of darkness poured out of his fingers, snaking toward the shadow, before enveloping her. Immediately, Yokoyama was knocked to the ground.

"THIS" Screamed Joker as he ran to the Shadow, drawing his gun, followed shortly after by Grim, Kingpin and Muse, "IS A HOLD UP!" He then pointed his handgun to the Shadow who simply stared. He didn't realize the three other had also drew their gun (sniper rifle for Kingpin, flame-thrower for Grim and... fireworks?... for Muse) when the only girl in their group talked, a manic grin on her face.

"Any last words?" She asked. The shadow simply stared at her, frowning.

" _Too bad._ " Simply said Joker. "You three!" His current teammates turned his eyes at him. "All. Out. Attack."

It was instantaneous. The four then back flipped before jumping in the air, drawing their weapons.

Yokoyama didn't stand a chance.

Forced to go back to her original form, she simply whimpered on the ground as the four landed, Joker adjusting his gloves with a cocky smile.

"The show's over."

...

"Holy fucking _shit_ " Breathed out Grim, sitting on the ground, sword in hand. "this was fucking hardcore."

"Still believe 'Jerks-Land' is disappointing, Grim?"

"Bitch, I was talking about summoning Orpheus and the All-Out Attack, not the fight."

"Indeed, you'd expect a Lilith to put up more of a fight." Kingpin confirmed, using his katana as a support.

"In short, it's kind of a disappointment. The battle didn't even last two turns!" Whined Muse, who was lying on the ground.

"YOU FUCKS HAVE OTHER COMPLAINS?!" Joker suddenly screamed, stomping on the ground.

"The way you summon your Persona probably explains a good part of your issues." Simply said Kingpin, properly standing up.

"Eat shit, Kingpin."

"No thanks."

" _What are you going to do to me?_ "

Oh. Right. Yokoyama's shadow. Joker turned toward her, accessing the situation. She was rolled in a ball on the ground, hands on her head an crying softly. Joker walked over to here and kneeled down before her. She flinched away from him.

"Hey, it's alright." Said Joker as he raised his hand before him. "Just... go back to your reality self and... tell her to calm down. You'll get more success with a better attitude."

" _But what about the ones who are constantly mocking me because of..._ " The shadow didn't say anything. Just gestured to he body.

"Ignore them. If you gain a good attitude, combined with your skills, it's all that's going to matter." Joker said. "If you ask me, rumors mean jack shit." He then thought for a moment. "Also, try to stop screaming when you're in your apartment. If it's because of some kind of abusive boyfriend or family or some shit, just move out."

"... _Alright, I'll try._ " The shadow said with a sad smile on her face before fading in golden light, leaving behind a small, blue light, which Joker took a hold of. The light then morphed into a pair of glistening scissors.

"Done!" He cheerfully said as he turned toward the three others, who simply stared at him.

"... You almost died for a pair of scissors?!" Grim complained.

"Shut up and go back to the bus." Ordered Joker as he walked toward said bus.

"Or what?" Asked the cloaked one.

"The Reaper will show up-"

"SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!" Both Grim and Muse screamed from the bus, having seemingly teleported there.

"... Nothing, really." Said Joker, continuing his way to his shape shifted teammate, followed closely by Kingpin. They entered the bus, and drived away to the real word, all with a strangely satisfied expression on their face.

It was good to be back in action.


End file.
